March 26, 2004
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue baseball team could not hold down the bats of Western Michigan, falling to the Broncos at Lambert Field by the score of 9-3. The Broncos out-hit the Boilermakers 19-11 during the contest.
J.R. Mathes recorded the win for WMU, pitching 8.0+ innings and yielding two runs on 10 hits. Mathes (3-1) kept the Boilermakers off balance all afternoon, stranding seven Purdue base runners and coaxing three double plays.
Purdue starter Scott Byrnes was hit with the loss, dropping his record to 1-2. Byrnes allowed five runs on 12 hits in 3.1 innings of work.
Western Michigan opened the scoring in the top of the third with a single run Mark Abro's base hit scored Matt Bolton from third base. The Broncos broke open the game in the fourth with four more runs, scoring on five hits including doubles by Andy Roy, R.C. Dickerson and Justin Carter.
The Broncos extended their lead to 6-0 in the seventh after Abro singled with a bunt, moved to second on a wild pitch and was plated by a single by Frank Ballard. The ninth inning saw WMU's advantage grow to 9-0 when the Broncos got RBI singles from Jarrett Juergenson and Cole Rathbun.
Purdue knocked Mathes from the mound in the bottom of the ninth after freshman Jeff Mojzik (Schererville, Ind.) drew a wallk and junior Andy Dahl (Fair Oaks, Calif.) singled to right, both as pinch hitters. Against reliever Brian French, sophomore Neal Gorka (Westchester, Ill.) entered the game as a pinch hitter and sent a 3-2 pitch over the left-center field wall for his first home run of the season, driving in three runs.
Sophomore pitcher Jay Buente (Evansville, Ind.) tossed 4.2 innings of relief for the Boilermakers, allowing one run on three hits. Buente struckout nine Bronco batters, shattering his previous career best of three, done four times last season.
The Boilermakers (7-9) return to Lambert Field on Saturday afternoon for a game against Cleveland State (2-8). First pitch of the game is scheduled for 30 minutes after the completion of the 11AM seven-inning game between Cleveland State and Western Michigan, or approximately 2PM.